Bibliography: p. 493-500. / This thesis presents a model of the process of diffusion of Management Science activity in South African business. A preliminary model is derived from available literature describing Management Science diffusion in the United States and Europe. This model is tested against data obtained in ten field studies performed in South African companies. The model may be used to forecast the outcome of the diffusion of Management Science activities in local organizations. It is also possible to use the model to predict the future of Management Science in South Africa.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-174). Also available via the Internet

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2008. / "Publication number: AAT 3323096."

Infrastructure, such as dams, weirs and culverts, disrupt the longitudinal connectivity of rivers, causing adverse impacts on fish and other species. This compromises the ability of river ecosystems to provide a range of services that contribute to human well-being. Improving fish passage at artificial barriers is an economic river restoration policy option that can improve the delivery of river ecosystem services provision. Whilst a number of methodologies exist to cost-effectively prioritize barriers for mitigation action, there is also now considerable interest in estimating the economic benefits of increased ecosystem service provision from investing in this activity. This is relevant in a number of policy contexts, including the Water Framework Directive in the EU. This thesis presents a novel bio-economic model that addresses the dual problem of prescribing cost optimal river barrier mitigation solutions whilst, simultaneously, estimating the social benefit of undertaking this activity. Minimal cost solutions are obtained for the problem of barrier mitigation decisions using a mixed integer linear program (MILP). The benefit from marginal improvements in river connectivity and fish species responses is then estimated using the Choice Experiment method. Incorporating these benefit estimates into the MILP generates the final bio-economic model. The specific advantage of this approach is it can readily inform cost benefit analysis of river barrier mitigation policy. The methods are demonstrated using the River Wey in South East England, containing over 650 artificial barriers, as a case study. For the case study, the benefits of investing in river barrier mitigation exceed costs at all budget levels, with the most socially efficient level of investment identified as approximately £30M.

The principal objective of this research is to investigate the institutional logics of artistic innovation in the context of contemporary visual arts. Contemporary art is a challenging field because there are no universal rules that determine artistic innovation, which inevitably relies on subjective justifications. Contemporary art institutions increasingly compete to display artistic innovation through their curatorial work, which derives from and shapes their institutional logics. The analysis in this study seeks to demystify the production of artistic innovation within contemporary art institutions, shedding light on the complex institutional dynamics that stem from interactions between artists, curators, patrons and art institutions. This thesis contributes to the existing theory a framework, based on the sociological thought of Becker and Bourdieu, which shows artistic innovation to be an organisational phenomenon. This conceptual framework is used to investigate the institutionalisation of art, in which artistic innovation is discursively constructed as a claim for authenticity. Such a claim expands knowledge structures concerning contemporary art and creates new identities for artists, creative agents and art institutions. The thesis makes a further contribution in that it seeks to advance organisational theory, and to provide insights into a field in which logics shift as a result of constantly changing power dynamics in order to fuel artistic innovations. The empirical focus of this study is the Young British Artists (YBAs), an art movement that emerged from London in the early 1990s, receiving support from powerful patrons, such as Charles Saatchi and art institutions including the Tate. This analysis contributes insights into the symbolic construction of artistic innovation, as the discourse of the YBAs facilitated their establishment as an art movement within the artistic field, and reinforced the position of the agents that appropriated this discourse. The case of the YBAs also demonstrates the importance of context for contemporary art production, as London provided the appropriate conditions for artistic innovation to flourish. Through its presentation of the social organisation of artistic innovation, this thesis demystifies contemporary art as the product of power relations and a stimulus of shifting logics in art institutions. Methodologically, this thesis contributes to the practice of critical discourse analysis, inserting a chronological dimension into Fairclough’s (2010) multilevel framework, in order to show how artistic discourses evolve while transforming the institution of art.

<p>The human computer interface is a vital component of the computer system, and is often seen as the entire system from the user's perspective. A properly designed interface should allow the user to effortlessly access information, which can also facilitate the decision making process. In this study, we develop a research framework to explore specific links between the decision making, information access and user interface domains. We examine three specific interface Wide Web history mechanisms) and their links within our research framework, which can then provide design implications for usable interfaces. Voice and text output modes were investigated in a multiple alternative decision making task experiment. We were able to conduct a direct comparison between these output modes by presenting the same information for the same length of time for each mode (voice, text, and both voice and text). We found the text mode was the most efficient, resulting in shorter decision times. Both voice and text was preferred to voice alone, but there were no significant differences between text\voice and both\text output mode pairings. A multiple alternative decision making task experiment was also used information structure was not imposed on the user. We found that a top-down search strategy was directly related to a tendency to use a compensatory and alternative-wise decision making strategy. We also found that the propensity to use a top-down strategy became less as the search progressed in favour of a more opportunistic approach. The final interface component investigated was a World Wide Web hypermedia history mechanism. A Memory Extender Mechanism for Online Searching (MEMOS) tool was developed to provide the Web user with intra- and inter-sessional navigation support in parallel with existing browser navigation mechanisms. This tool can be used to navigate among pages within a particular session, or save all or part of a navigation session for future inter-sessional use. Session sites may be saved in a three level user-defined hierarchy, thus making lists more manageable and understandable. We conducted experiments where subjects compared MEMOS with corresponding Netscape 3.0 Web browser history mechanisms. The results of the experiments indicated significant preferences for the MEMOS tool, and significant efficiency and effectiveness measures for MEMOS inter-sessional was also shown to be effective. From our examination of the above interface components we established specific interactive relationships among the derision making, information access and user interface domains. These relationships contribute to a better understanding of interface components that can be used to develop usable systems. Our framework also suggests possible directions for future research.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Selecting projects to develop from the many that are usually possible, or "project portfolio selection " is a crucial decision in many organizations. Many different methods for portfolio selection have been suggested in the literature but no integrated framework has been developed for carrying it out. In this thesis, we suggest a framework that builds on the strengths of existing methods. The proposed framework separates the project portfolio analysis and selection process into distinct stages and allows users to choose the techniques they find the most suitable for each stage. Since finding the optimal solution is the most sophisticated part of the proposed framework, we developed a zero-one linear integer-programming model for this stage that overcomes the shortcomings of existing models and advances previous work in this area. The model we developed considers multiple, conflicting goals, including qualitative objectives, and selects and schedules the optimal set of projects. The solution maximizes benefits according to pre-specified priorities without violating any constraints such as resource limitations, project interdependencies, and portfolio balancing. We implemented the proposed framework in the form of a decision support system (DSS) to facilitate and encourage decision maker involvement throughout the process. For this purpose we developed PASS (Project Analysis and Selection System). PASS is a user-friendly DSS that suits the knowledge level of potential users and allows interaction with the system as well as intervention to make adjustments to the solution it provides. We tested the usefulness, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of PASS in a lab setting and gained significant results in support of the developed hypotheses. We also presented our approach to two high-tech firms who wanted to investigate the feasibility of PASS for project portfolio selection, and received very promising feedback from these companies.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This study develops a model for analyzing fit between a firm's competitive strategies and the capabilities of their Supply Chain Management Information Systems (SCM IS). Concepts such as configurational theory, the resource based view of the firm, and emergent strategies and capabilites--all of which are underutilized in current IS literature--ground the study theoretically. A positivist case study of five manufacturers is used to explore the constructs and identify appropriate measures for operationalizing the model. The developed model enables IS planners to quickly analyze their firm's competitive strategy patterns and determine the ideal level of support required for each SCM IS capability. Firms can improve the effectiveness of their IS and reduce the risk and cost of misfits, by implementing information systems that fit their emergent competitive strategies. The developed model is a significant improvement over traditional models that advocate aligning information systems with a firm's intended strategies or their current functional requirements, both of which change more frequently than a firm's emergent competitive strategy patterns. The case study investigations yielded several important findings. First, Miles and Snow's (1978) competitive strategy typology proved useful for classifying a firm's emergent competitive strategy patterns and reducing the complexity of analysis. However, the qualitative evidence more strongly supported the use of Conant et al .'s (1990) multi-dimensional questionnaire measure of competitive strategy type rather than Miles and Snow's (1978) paragraph measure. Second, existing conceptualizations of IS capabilities were not well suited to analyzing SCM IS specifically. The findings support the conceptualization of SCM IS capabilities as the level of support provided for: operational efficiency, operational flexibility, planning, internal analysis, and external analysis. Finally, the empirical results strongly supported modeling the strategic fit of a firm's SCM IS as the amount the perceived level of support provided for each SCM IS capability was less than the theoretically ideal level, rather than the more common approach of modeling strategic fit as the absolute deviation between perceived and theoretically ideal levels.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This thesis describes efficient algorithms and complexity results for some machine scheduling and related problems, which are encountered in automated manufacturing systems. We introduce a new class of robotic-cell scheduling models. The novel aspect is that parts need to reenter machines several times before they are finished. The problem is to find the sequence of robot move cycles and the part processing sequence that jointly minimize the cycle time or the makespan. We show that the problems are computationally intractable with three machines and present polynomial solutions for a variety of two-machine configurations. We then consider the problem of scheduling multi-component parts in a two-machine robotic cell, where each part is composed of K identical components to be processed together on the first machine, then processed on the second machine individually. We study the cycle time and makespan minimization problems, and show that both are polynomially solvable. We investigate the problem of minimizing cycle time in a two-machine job shop, where each job has at most three operations. We reduce the problem to a two-machine reentrant flow shop problem. By extending previous results on the reentrant flow shop problem, we propose a new pseudo-polynomial algorithm, as well as a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme for certain special cases of the job shop problem. We also describe a 4/3-approximation algorithm for the general problem, and identify several well-solvable cases. Finally, we study special cases of the traveling salesman problem on permuted Monge matrices, which arose from robotic-cell scheduling problems. By using the theory of subtour patching, we reduce the problems to finding a minimum-b -weight spanning tree in the patching graph. In general, this problem is [Special characters omitted.] -hard. We show, however, that newly defined special properties of the distance matrix allow us to find in polynomial time a minimum-b -weight spanning tree, and thus an optimal tour, for these new classes.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This dissertation presents a collection of research projects on software agents in electronic commerce (e-commerce). A common theme throughout this research is that agents are an innovation. We are interested in identifying conditions and design criteria that would lead to their adoption in e-commerce applications. We define and study a class of agent applications that fall under the Decision Support Systems (DSS) Approach, where users delegate part of a decision-making task to a software agent. We show how findings from traditional DSS research can guide the development of e-commerce applications that include software agents. Two frameworks are presented that organize research and development activity. The first framework looks at the kinds of knowledge that agents should possess if they are to assist in e-commerce decision-making and identifies some of the major research challenges in designing intelligent agent applications. The second framework is directed at development and design activities. It builds on models of buyer behaviour where perceived risk and frequency of purchase are two characteristics of purchasing situations that can help identify when buyers are expected to find agents useful. The results of two empirical studies suggested by these frameworks are presented. The first study was exploratory and identified consumer preferences for information display over searching and browsing tasks. This was a first step in a larger project aimed at designing adaptable agents to support consumers in different information-seeking modes. A second experiment studied consumer behaviour in the actual online purchase of a music compact disk. We found that subjects who used an agent made their purchase decisions in less time and made more-informed decisions than subjects who did not use an agent.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)